第21章 致W. M. 希利
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第21章 致W. M. 希利
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Chapter 21—To W. M. Healey
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《信函》1888年第7号H-7-1888于密歇根州巴特尔克里克Battle Creek, Mich.1888年12月9日December 9, 1888亲爱的希利弟兄：
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Dear Brother Healey:
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自从我离开太平洋海岸，我再没有过一点非常轻松的时刻。我们的第一次大会并不像我所参加的其他任何一次大会。我们的一些弟兄一想到有些弟兄竟敢接受与领导人员相反的观点，心中就充满了偏见，以致不能公正地，以基督化的情怀去查考我们信仰的立场。这种做法更象基督时代的祭司，官长和法利赛人所采取的做法。因为我是从太平洋海岸过来的，他们就认为我是受了W.C.怀特，瓦格纳医生及A.T.琼斯的影响。{1888 186.1}
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I have not had a very easy time since I left the Pacific Coast. Our first meeting was not like any other General Conference I ever attended. The thought that some of our brethren ventured to entertain some ideas contrary to those of the leading brethren filled the minds of some of our brethren with such prejudice that they could not with any fairness even come to an investigation of the positions of our faith with anything like Christian feelings. It was more after the order developed by the priests and rulers and Pharisees in the days of Christ. Because I came from the Pacific Coast they would have it that I had been influenced by W. C. White, Dr. Waggoner, and A. T. Jones. {1888 186.1}
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巴特勒弟兄写给我一封含有非常奇特见解的信，信中的措辞十分强烈。他将上帝所选派在祂圣工中作一番特别工作的人称之为初出茅庐之辈。他还说自己收到了加利福利亚北部和中部的来信，扬言要是E.J.瓦格纳和A.T.琼斯的观点得到接纳，他们就不会将自己的孩子送到学院里来。我不想将此事全告诉你，但我听说你曾写信警告巴特勒长老。我问他能否让我看看那封信，但他说已将信毁了。多么奇怪的举止！我的弟兄，主在引导你吗？抑或是仇敌在你心中作工，就如在别人心中作工那样？我得出的结论是仇敌在你心中作工。我没有改变关于《加拉太书》中律法的观点，但我希望我永远不会怀有带进总会的那种精神。我毫不犹豫地说这不是上帝的精神。若是我们在教义上所持的每一理念是真理的话，难道真理会经不起检验吗？它会因为批评就摇摇欲坠吗？若是这样的话，就让它倒好了，越快越好。关闭以基督化的方式研究真理各要点的门户，这种精神不是从上面来的精神。{1888 186.2}
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Brother Butler wrote me a letter of a most singular purport, and made wonderfully strong statements in it. He called these men whom God has appointed to do a special work in His cause fledglings. He moreover said that he had received letters from Northern and Central California, saying that they would not send their children to the college if the views of E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones were brought in. Well, I will not attempt to tell you all about this matter; but I learned that you were one who wrote letters of warning to Elder Butler. I asked him if I might see the letter, but he said that he had destroyed it. Strange proceedings! My brother, Is the Lord leading you? or is the enemy working upon your mind as upon the minds of others? I have come to the conclusion that this is the case. I have not changed my views in reference to the law in Galatians, but I hope that I shall never be left to entertain the spirit that was brought into the General Conference. I have not the least hesitancy in saying it was not the Spirit of God. If every 187idea we have entertained in doctrines is truth will not the truth bear to be investigated? Will it totter and fall if criticized? If so, let if fall, the sooner the better. The spirit that would close the door to investigation of points of truth in a Christlike manner is not the Spirit from above. {1888 186.2}
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你写道已经制定全盘计划，A.T.琼斯，瓦格纳医生和W.C.怀特已将一切准备就绪，要在总会会议上采取行动。你警告巴特勒长老——一位身心俱损的可怜病人——要准备应付紧急情况；在那次会议上巴特勒长老觉得应该通过电报和长信来“维护古老的界标”。就好像主没有出席那次会议，也不会在工作中施展祂的作为似的！{1888 187.1}
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You wrote that plans were all laid, and that A. T. Jones, Dr. Waggoner, and W. C. White, had things all prepared to make a drive at the General Conference. And you warned Elder Butler—a poor sick man, broken in body and in mind,—to prepare for the emergency; and in that conference Elder Butler felt called upon to send in telegrams and long letters, “Stand by the old landmarks.” Just as though the Lord was not present at that conference, and would not keep His hand on the work! {1888 187.1}
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我的证言被忽视了，我一生中从未受到过象那次大会时受到的冷遇。我的弟兄，我认为你和其他一些弟兄造成了目前的局面。你或许认为自己真是在侍奉上帝，但事实上你是在帮助仇敌的事业，而不是上帝的事业。{1888 187.2}
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My testimony was ignored, and never in my life experience was I treated as at that conference; and I give you, my brother, with some others of our brethren, the credit of doing what you could to bring this state of affairs about. You may have thought that you were verily doing God service; but it served the cause of the enemy rather than the cause of God. {1888 187.2}
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我要更详细地给你写信，把细节都写出来，你会适时读到。{1888 187.3}
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I would write you more fully, but the particulars may all be written out and you will have them in time. {1888 187.3}
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巴特勒长老一直在做解释证言和圣经灵感的工作，上帝从来没有让他这么做。其影响已波及奥克兰的总会会议，自那以后就像面酵一般在发挥作用。对太平洋海岸怀有的偏见和恼怒的精神在一定的程度上也存在于落基山脉的这一边。当我了解到你做了别人曾做过的工作，挑拨一位虚弱病人的心思，使他以扭曲的眼光看待问题时，我感到十分痛苦伤心。由于巴特勒长老所处的负责地位，有些人看他而不看上帝。他们接受了他夸张的观念，认为必须附和他说“维护古老的界标”。听说你甘心做变节者反对你的弟兄，我感到很难过。我们能信赖谁呢？问题的症结是什么呢？为什么A.T.琼斯和瓦格纳医生在一些教义上所持有的观点，只因与我们有些领导者的看法不同，就被大家视为无关紧要了呢？但要紧的问题是我们是否是基督徒，是否具有基督的精神，是否真心、公开、坦诚地彼此相待。我不认可落基山脉东边和太平洋海岸在这个问题上所存的非基督化精神。难道你不相信上帝会掌管这些事情吗？在过去的45年间上帝不是一直在藉着祂的仆人说话吗？祂曾撇下我独自一人行走吗？若是说我们的弟兄需要用眼药涂抹眼睛的话，那就是现在了。我不想让弟兄们知道是你跟巴特勒长老通风报信，因为我担心会在他们中间引起猜疑，觉得你不是一个值得信任的人；以致你一旦有机会就会背离他们。{1888 187.4}
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Elder Butler has been doing a work in the interpretation of the testimony and upon the inspiration of the Scriptures which God has never put upon him, and its influence was brought over to the General Conference in Oakland, and since then has been at work like leaven, and the very same prejudice and irritation of spirit that was upon the Pacific Coast in a degree we find this side of the Rocky Mountains. I was grieved and distressed when I learned that you had done the very same work others have done, stirred up the mind of a feeble, sick man, and caused him to look at things in a distorted light. In the responsible position which Elder Butler has occupied 188some have looked at him rather than to God. They have accepted his exaggerated ideas, and they have felt that they must, as he said, “Stand by the old landmarks.” I am sorry to hear that you are willing to work as a traitor against your brethren. Upon whom can we rely? And what is this all about? Why A. T. Jones and Dr. Waggoner hold views upon some doctrinal points which all admit are not vital questions, different from those which some of the leading ones of our people have held. But it is a vital question whether we are Christians, whether we have a Christian spirit, and are true, open, and frank with one another. I do not like the unchristian spirit which has prevailed both east of the Rocky Mountains, and on the Pacific Coast on this subject. Could you not trust God to manage these matters? Has not the Lord been speaking through His servant for the last forty-five years, and has He left me to walk alone? If ever our brethren needed their eyes anointed with eyesalve it is at the present time. I do not want our brethren to know that you were the one who communicated to Elder Butler the information you did, for I fear it would create suspicion in them that you were not a man to be trusted; that you would betray them if you had a chance. {1888 187.4}
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我认为我们早该在内心做基督徒。这里的情形多么需要以最恳切和不懈的努力来消除过去几年工作的后果。我很欣慰时候已经到来，有些事件将激励我们的信徒去亲自查考我们信仰的各要点。我们不应该视巴特勒长老或史密斯长老为安息日复临信徒信仰的监护人，任何人都不敢发表与他们不同的见解。我的呼吁一直是：你们要亲自查考圣经！亲自查明主是怎么说的。任何人都不是我们的权威。如果他是从圣经领受的亮光，我们也可以到同一个源头领受亮光和证据，来支持我们所信之道。圣经教导说，我们当存温柔敬畏的心，说出我们心中盼望的缘由。 {1888 188.1}
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I think it is high time that we were Christians at heart. The condition of things here is such that it requires most earnest, persevering labor to counteract the work that has been done here for a few years in the past. I am glad that a time has come when something will stir our people to investigate the points of our faith for themselves. We should not consider that either Elder Butler or Elder Smith are the guardians of the doctrines for Seventh-day Adventists, and that no one may dare to express an idea that differs from theirs. My cry has been: Investigate the Scriptures for yourselves, and know for yourselves what saith the Lord. No man is to be authority for us. If he has received his light from the Bible so may we also go 189to the same source for light and proof to substantiate the doctrines which we believe. The Scriptures teach that we should give a reason of the hope that is within us with meekness and fear. {1888 188.1}
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希利弟兄，我们最好要仰望上帝，信靠上帝。你给巴特勒长老所灌输的思想可能使他对瓦格纳医生，A.T.琼斯，威利和我产生了错误的看法。所传来的消息，就像来自太平洋海岸的消息那样，给他带来了沉重的负担。我想我们最好弄清楚是在与哪一种工人同工；他们的追求是在违背弟兄的利益，制造怀疑和不信，还是在谋求促进东西部两大机构的和睦与和谐。{1888 189.1}
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Brother Healey, it is best for us to look to God and trust in God. The ideas you have given to Elder Butler may have placed Dr. Waggoner, A. T. Jones, Willie, and myself in a false light. The information coming as it did from Pacific Coast had great weight with him. I think we better know what kind of laborers we are connected with, whether because they feel like it they will betray the brethren and create suspicion and distrust or will seek to promote peace and harmony between the two great institutions East and West. {1888 189.1}
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我已告诉你，我对《加拉太书》中律法的看法没有改变。但若是我们已拥有这方面真理的弟兄没有因而成圣，这果子就不是出于基督的旨意，却苦似胆汁。{1888 189.2}
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I have not1This “not” makes the statement contradict the sentence in the second paragraph of this letter that states: “I have not changed my views with reference to the law in Galatians ...” It would appear, therefore, that the “not” of the sentence in question either is a mistype for “now,” or it is possible that the word was introduced into the text inadvertently.
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我现在的工作状态是空前的。我感到必须采取一些措施，否则许多灵魂将会丧失。巴特尔克里克教会就像山谷中的枯骨，需要某种能力的激发使他们起死复生。所以我们不得不工作、祈祷、工作，甚至让琼斯弟兄在巴特尔克里克开了一次听证会。我们的许多领袖听了他发言以后被激怒了，因为他认为有些身负重责的人会向亮光和知识关闭门户，把他们所实在需要的东西排斥在外。但我没有时间再写下去了。{1888 189.3}
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I have been working as I never worked before. I have felt that something must be done or many souls will be lost. This church in Battle Creek is like the valley of dry bones. They need to be stirred with some power to give them life. Why we have had to work and pray and work even to have Brother Jones obtain a hearing in Battle Creek, and many of our leading men were provoked after they heard him talk to think that there were those in responsible positions who would close the door to light and to knowledge, keeping out just what they needed. But I have not time to write more. {1888 189.3}
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由MMO重新抄写于1962年9月12日
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Recopied September 12, 1962MMO